The Truth

[Gringoboy]

Well, the downside is that I can't get credit in Arg and i have to pay up front in cash, but the service side helps finance that.
I run the business more or less debt free, no overdrafts or credit. Not easy, but it can be done.
Credit in UK is widely available, subject to checks of course.

 

[Lucas]

Is there credit available in the UK or do you have to provide 100% of your own financing? You can definitely get loans in the US and there is a lot of help for small and medium businesses. I'm glad you are successful in Argentina but my Argentine friends running small or medium businesses tell me something else. They say it is enormously difficult, the government is uncooperative, nothing is transparent, taxes are very high, it costs about 50% over salary to maintain a legal employee, labor laws are strongly in favor of employees with huge penalties if you fire someone. They say that you can't plan much as policy changes, anything can happen.

This is what I hear from Argentines.

Maybe the UK is different from the US in terms of running small and medium businesses.

Say no more!.....

They will always are crying as sucking babies, they are like the 'gata flora', if you know what that means then you will understand, it doesn't matter if their business are booming or at edge of collapsing the crying is all the same, it is an Argentinean thing, a sport....

 

[Tourist2008]

My original "you could say the same about Europe and the USA" was directed at the OP´s comment that the country is run by a powerful minority for their own benefit. I have to say I stand by that ..... the corporate and political elite have a stranglehold and as we do not have a well enough funcioning democracy to break that hold.

And Chris, if its not so much old money but rather new money riding on the governments coat-tails then ..... well new folk CAN get ahead, its just the way they do it that you (and I) don´t like. And surely you don´t imagine that the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs can get ahead without the finance community backing them?

I too run a business, a farm in fact, and the beaurocracy is overwhelming but, hey, thats just the way it is. The land was incredibly cheap, so I have a huge starting advantage over a similar enterprise in the US or Europe.

And yes, the labour laws are highly pro-worker. Against this the argentine farm worker is so used to being abused (literally) that if you treat them well and with respect and give them proper working conditions they show great loyalty and work hard.

The hardest challenge for me is the unpredictability of policy .... a farm is a long term venture ..... but I love the challenge of steering a course through the shifting sands.

Relentlessly optimistic .....

 

[Lucas]

This country is not going to change. It is perfect according to plan. Those in power / those with money do not want change. They have a great life. They don't work...others work for them. They don't worry about money...they have old money and that is all they need.

This country is a joke for those of us from 1st world countries who are used to the concept that working can get you ahead. That concept doesn't exist here. It is not encouraged by design. If you buck the system you will soon find out that it is not wanted.

The ruling class has fooled the the population. They have everything and they will give them shit but shit is better than nothing.

They can afford to fly to Miami a few times a year for electronics (plus the free vacation). Import taxes be damned!

This country is a joke and will always be. It is controlled by a class that is enjoying their money and they do NOT want any progress of it's people at all.

I am so sad for them. The them is the majority of people who are maids and servants to these freaks.

There is some truth in all this, it is happening all the time in this country and all are responsible for it, is the culture of going for the easy options and enjoy the good life without any sacrifice or if there must be sacrifices that these be as little as possible. It did happen in the 1980s (Plata Dulce) and again in the 1990s (Menenismo) and is very possible this will repeat itself in the future, doesn't matter what, people do not learn their lesson and with new generations forgetting the past this disease continues, sad.

 

[Gringoboy]

I'm an optimist too, you have to be.
Oh, and I will NOT be employing anybody in my shop. My wife is a public accountant and the horror stories of employee actions she tells me, make my hair stand on end.

 

[joelie]

Its true that it happens in other places as well but not quite a brazenly as it does here

I think it is less brazen here in Argentina than in many, many other parts of the world. Here they still provide infrastructure, street lighting, garbage delivery, paved roads, piped water etc. etc. even if they steal from the people at the same time. In some places, the ruling class/politicians live like the wealthiest people in the world and steal from people who are literally starving to death. I don't see that a large portion of the population here in Argentina is starving to death (nor goes through a yearly cycle of weight loss and gain based on harvest times).

 

[Davidglen77]

Until recently I had a small business in Buenos Aires. The startup was very difficult (especially since my business partner, an Argentine guy was plotting to steal money from me which I didn´t realize until much later in the game). Running the business was fun, and it was profitable from the day I opened the door. However once the municipal inspectors started knocking, looking for bribes, and closed my shop down for NO reason for 21 days because I wouldn't pay them, the pipes started leaking and spewing putrid water in my store, which the building or landlord wouldn't fix, the armed robbery with a gun pointed at me, well you name it, it happened to me. I had employees at different times which luckily didn't sue me but were not exactly hard workers. I spent so much time fighting off the things that come up here constantly that can destroy a business that I decided to give up for now.

Here's some more info:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/governm...ueno/mauricio-macri-buenos-aires-ca-d3e6d.htm

 

[fred mertz]

I read an article in a newspaper about 2 years ago (could have today) about a poor man in Mexico who worked long hard hours, so that his daughter could get a college degree, so that she could excel in life. She got the degree, but couldn't get a job. The reason was that she wsa from the wrong side of the tracks and didn't have any connections.The child of a wealth family only needs their parent to make the "right" phone call. Degree not needed. There are differences between the 1st and 3rd-4th Worlds How sad.

 

[henryb]

Another example of "Yeah, I am a bum, but blame the system!" mentality. If you are young, healthy and motivated you can always get what you want.
Yes, chances are not on your side, and you will have to work 10 times as hard and be exceptionally creative sometimes.

Kids from poor families in the 3rd world countries have about the same chances as white trash kids living in trailer parks in the USA.

If you don't have any skills that are in demand, having a degree does not help you that much.

 

[BAFinance]

I'm an optimist too, you have to be.
Oh, and I will NOT be employing anybody in my shop. My wife is a public accountant and the horror stories of employee actions she tells me, make my hair stand on end.

I have a grand idea! Employ expats! Lord knows there are enough people on this site looking for jobs!